A range of cranes from Manitowoc are at work on the world’s largest dry-cooled coal power plant in the world, in Limpopo, South Africa’s northernmost province.
The cranes in use at the Medupi Power Station construction site include six Manitowoc crawler cranes, supplied by Mammoet, three Potain tower cranes, and a 95 tonne capacity Grove GTK1100 mobile telescoping crane.
When completed, the $15.6bn (ZAR: 120bn) Medupi Power Station is expected to be the fourth largest power plant in the world, with six boilers each powering an 800 MW turbine, for a combined output of 4,800 MW.
The crawler cranes consist of a 756t Manitowoc 21000, and five 400t capacity Manitowoc 16000s, which are being used primarily to lift steel beams and steel assemblies.
Pieter van der Weele, manager at Mammoet South Africa, said his company was proud to be involved in the project.
“When we were approached by the main contractor about the project, Manitowoc was the only manufacturer that could deliver this variety of crawler cranes in time for the beginning of the project,” he said.
“Having the support from Manitowoc Crane Care for this project in South Africa enables us to react quickly when maintenance or repairs are required — and this is essential for a project of this size and importance.”
The mobile telescoping GTK1100 is being used since its small footprint allows for more strategic positioning around the boilers, said Craig Pace, general manager for Vanguard, the rental company supplying the lifter.
“With so many cranes on the project, we knew positioning would be critical,” he said. “The GTK1100 was perfect for the boilers because it has more than enough capacity, more than enough reach, but the real selling point was the small footprint.”
The only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, Vanguard’s Grove GTK1100 is currently placing components of up to 15 t on top of the boilers, at heights of about 100m while on the ground its footprint is just 18m x 18m.
Cranes have been onsite since 2008, doing preparatory work for principal contractor Hitachi. It is expected that the majority will remain on site until the project’s completion in 2015.
